Ali Baba Palace Resort — Hotel in Red Sea

Family of 5 ranging from age 10-70 & none of us were happy in this hotel. Room was lovely & WiFi worked fab along with good air con. The cleaners were nice & friendly and always made sure we had enough bottled water etc. The fridge was so old and noisy it had to be switched off at night otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to sleep. It also smelled really badly. On our first night it was quite late when we checked in so we put our stuff in the room and went for food. Upon returning we found the key card we had left in the wall to keep the air con running was missing. We rang reception to advise someone must have picked it up by accident when bringing up some bedding & the man on reception suddenly got very rude and said we were accusing them of theft. We were not at all and knew it was just an accident. He said to my husband it was probably your wife that lost it and we are going to charge you for it. Eventually the man who had brought the extra bedding came back with our key card which oh surprise he had picked up by mistake. The man on reception then phoned to apologise. This was not the best start to our holiday. The food in all the restaurants was below average. We really struggled with it. The choices and quality were poor. We ended up eating out a lot. We were told we could book the speciality restaurants by going to a desk between 12:30-2:30. This was no use to us as we were out on excursions nearly every day. We asked at reception 4 separate times about getting a booking and told them we were struggling due to being out on excursions but nobody cared and just said come ask someone else the next day. Our last day we decided to have a pool day so thought we would book the tepanyaki restaurant only to be told it was fully booked for the next two days. At no point were we told we could book in advance before this. We were in the hotel for 10 nights and didn’t get to book a single restaurant. This is not acceptable!!! Drinks selection was poor and given in the smallest cups you’ve ever seen. Sometimes they would give you ice and other times they said they had none even though you just saw them give it to someone. The guys running around waitering on tables were all lovely and worked really hard. It’s extra for ice creams, candy floss, popcorn and fruit juices. Shops in the hotel try to rip you off charging double than what things are outside. Even the taxi rank from the hotel wanted about 4 times as much as Uber or Indrive. Our last day we were unfortunately on a late flight and were only getting picked up at 19:30. We were asking for days before about keeping our room and kept getting told to ask later. Told to go 9am on morning of checkout to go to desk and ask only to be told none left even though we went at 8:55. Asked about luggage room and there is none you have to just leave your cases sat in reception in the open where everyone is walking past. Asked about shower room and told yes between 2-4 but if someone is using may have to wait to can’t guarantee a time or anything. Should be able to book a time slot. Due to this our last day was completely ruined as we didn’t want to risk going to the pool as my daughter had booked into the hairdresser to get her hair plaited at 3 and wasn’t sure if she would be able to get a shower in time. Water park was decent but it opens at 10 and then closes at 12:30 for an hour and then reopens and closes at 4. You have to take all your stuff and leave during that hour break. The main pool is absolutely massive but there are nowhere near enough sunbeds. Lots of space but no sunbeds. The hotel really needs to invest in more. Whilst around the main pool or beach you constantly get hassled with people trying to sell you stuff. Apparently you could get a sign saying not disturb you but you shouldn’t need to. We only managed one day around the main pool anyway as could never get a bed. Always seemed to be plenty in the water park but had to hassle of having to leave for an hour at lunchtime. I will never go back to this hotel and wouldn’t recommend...

We were at the AliBaba Palace Hotel in July 2024. The transport to the hotel is decent, a 15-minute bus ride from the airport, although the area itself is basically a desert - it's hard to find your bearings when you're used to European resorts. The surroundings are more daunting than inviting. The hotel grounds are fenced, and the bus passes through a double barrier and checks before reaching the hotel front and doors. Luggage is taken by hotel staff from your hands upon arrival and placed in the lobby one next to another. The reception service is rather brisk. Smiles are rare, no polite greetings, and English is at a level sufficient for conveying information, but don't count on much help with more detailed questions, request. Passports of each guests are scanned and if there is an issue with anyting they become quiet rude. Speak Arabic to each other in front of you, so you feel rather lost. Due to our late arrival after 10:00 PM, we were offered a meal in Bella Italia - one of the 3 lobby restaurants. It was a nice and thoughtful touch. Upon entering the room, hotel staff brought our luggage, emphasizing on tips, of course. The standard room is very basic. The hotel is divided into two parts - before and after renovation. The beds are hard, which suits me fine. The room's air conditioning and fridge are very loud. The first 2 nights were sleepless, being woken up every 2 hours by it's loud operation. Tap water should never be consumed. It's best to use mineral water for brushing teeth, washing face, and hands. Again, a plus for the daily replenishment by housekeepers - 4 new bottles in the room every day, which can even be refilled by oneself during the day from dispensers throughout the hotel. I'd strongly advise to take an antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer with you. Due to staying with two small children aged 5 and 7, we pay a lot of attention to the cleanliness of the places we stay. Unfortunately, we did not experience this at the Alibaba hotel. Glasses in the lobby and hotel bar were rinsed with tap water during peak hours. Drinks were served in old plastic cups that clearly had seen better days. Tables in the restaurant were wiped of crumbs between guests. Cutlery that appeared unused after guests was left for the next ones. The hotel staff carried most things in their hands, and when pouring beer, it was rare for the rim of the glass not to be touched by their fingers. You should expect to get traveler’s diarrhea due to the low level of sanitation. In succession, we saw rooms in the hotel displaying do not disturb signs on their door handles one by another. In our case, fortunately, it was just one person, but 3 days out of 7 were spent in bed. Even though we have stucked to the most basic diet - fries, plain rice, chicken, and beef. All deserts tasted the same. We stayed away from cakes with whipped cream. The animations were rather poor, although in heat above 40 degrees, it is hard to blame them. The hotel is not all-inclusive at all - chips, popcorn, ice cream, canned drinks, and bottled beers are to be paid for. Local alcohols in the all-inclusive drinks are made from local products - they taste bad. On the plus side, the water park is great for children, although it operates in two time slots: 10-13 and 14-17. The sea is also close, but you need to bring special water shoes - the beach is rocky with a lot of boulders, so you can get quite hurt. The resort is safe, although there are many people offering their services - massages, diving, snorkeling. Walking around the sunbeds and nagging. The game room is very expensive. A few minutes of play costs 2 tokens. One token is one dollar. The ice rink is laid OSB boards painted with sliding paint, not ice. At every stage, you can expect the hotel staff to demands tips. We are talking about small amounts, but still, it is tiring when you want to relax. In summary, I rate the stay at the hotel 3 out of 5 stars. You need to be very careful, which is not the point of...

Average experience My auntie and I recently stayed here.

Positive feedback The room was lovely, just a basic room, 2 single beds, plus a nice bathroom, and the cleaner did a great job cleaning the room and keeping us hydrated by ensuring we always had water. He was also friendly and chatty, as we're the pool staff.

Facilities were good around the hotel. These included: a water park for children (so we didn't get to go age 6-12), pool, ice rink, bowling, nightclub, and day and evening entertainment. There are shops on site the people working in them are very friendly and helpful and have what you need in them.

We regret to inform you that in our experience the staff were not friendly. Most of them (90%) are miserable and rude, Never once did any of the waiting staff acknowledge us when we went into a restaurant, and we had to go and get all drinks by ourselves. The food choices are quite limited as they were always the same choices and the food in every restaurant and the food was never very hot. All inclusive is not all inclusive but the things you paid fore weren't very expensive such as nice cocktails ( the included ones are disgusting), ice creams etc. We found the bar staff to be especially rude, they wouldn't talk when you ordered or they would practically throw the drinks at you. We left the hotel and asked the hotel to arrange a taxi to take us shopping, the man phoned for a taxi, and they dropped us off at some man’s shop where they had arranged that we would be picked up at the same place at an agreed time. There were no other tourists around and at one point one of the shopkeepers followed us along the street to the bank. It was a very unsafe environment for two women on their own . We think we would have been treated completely different had we been with men due to the treatment we watched as other guests were treated completely differently to us.

So, to sum up our experience

There were not many British people at the hotel this could have been due to the season or the time of year we went but the guests were mostly Russian, German and Dutch, We had no problem with that and found them to be friendly enough, what we had a problem with was that they seemed to favour everyone over us and we felt very unwelcome and uncomfortable in the restaurants at the hotel.

We had a spa day, and the treatment and staff in the spa were exceptional. The beach is beautiful and there is a bar and a place to eat. It is only a couple of minutes' walk from our room, so that’s a huge bonus. However, you are constantly harassed by people trying to sell you trips, etc. Even when you have a do not disturb sign but I'm not sure how the hotel could control this issue without getting rid of them. The entertainment team are very good espesually with children so if you are a family and considering this hotel id say yes, they also work very long days, There is various activities on throughout the day but everything finishes at 10.30pm and then it is only the nightclub, our suggestion would be to maybe have something on the mainstage till 12 at night and get rid of the club but that's just a suggestion. We have enjoyed our stay overall, but we have been on day trips most days. Had we been at the hotel every day, we feel this may have hindered our experience of egypt in general. We have loved Egypt, but everything is money related, and they are waiting for a tip before they even serve you!! If I returned, I would not come back...